Hasan Sheikh could jeopardize the entire Horn of Africa with his reckless, non-starter politics.
Hassan Sh. Mohamoud, the president of the Federal Government of Somalia, controls Mogadishu and its environs, which are controlled by Al-Shabaab. He is recognized as the president of Somalia at international diplomatic forums. However, he pursues policies that are detrimental to the interests of the Somali people and to the entire Horn of Africa. Recently, Hassan offered a military base to Egypt to foil the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Somaliland and Ethiopia.
Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El-Sisi alleges the reason his troops are in Somalia is to bolster Somali unity. He vows to build a Somali army that is strong enough to crush Somaliland and bring it back to the fold of Somali unity. A unity that would be achieved by the force of arms.
The objective of Egypt’s involvement in Somali affairs at the present is not to attack Ethiopia or do something about the Millenium Dam. However, Egypt is here to dismantle and make Somaliland the sacrificial lamb as it is the easiest way to prevent the MOU from materializing.
Heavy weaponry is already being transported to Somalia by Hercules C130 planes. Clan militias bordering Somaliland are being armed and backed financially by the Somalia Federal government and the Egyptian military.
Hassan Sheikh and El-Sisi may be under the delusion that if they get rid of Somaliland, the MOU would be something of the past and hence after Somali unity will be reborn. However, do the two presidents ever envisage the wider consequences of their reckless and short-sighted plans?
It is disturbing for anyone to contemplate Somaliland, which has hitherto been the only peaceful entity in the region, to be destabilized or worse break into a civil war. Afterall, Somaliland has been a beacon of hope for Somalis and many in the region.
Attacking Somaliland is an offence against the peace and security of the entire region, offence against its nascent democratic process. These hostilities will be compromising strategic areas such as the coastal areas of Gulf of Aden, the Golis Mountain chain which if insecure would be certainly a haven for terrorist networks of Al-Shabab and the Islamic state (Daish) who have been striving to acquire a foothold in the Golis Mountains.
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Hassan Sheikh are playing with fire and endangering the Horn of Africa, the facing gulf countries, and important shipping lanes. The international community, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the African Union should wake up to the dangers unfolding in the Horn of Africa and confront these reckless policies of Hassan Sheikh and El-Sisi.
By Abdirahman Artan,
A former Member of the Somaliland Parliament
